Oliver Davies lit up the Big Bash League in his rookie season and took to the one-day arena beautifully in his debut for New South Wales on Monday as domestic cricket returned, making a half-century at well over a run a ball.
In the shorter forms, Davies is Australia’s next big name. He will probably go on and become a solid Test player as well.
For those who have been following the NSW youth pathway competitions, Australian youth championships and state’s premier cricket over the last handful of years, the above statements will come as no surprise.
Davies started attracting attention in the 2015-16 AW Green Shield and hasn’t taken a backward step, representing NSW in every junior age group. He scored a century in his second game of first-grade cricket at the age of 18 and then captained his state at the under 19 National Championships in 2018, where he scored 207 against the Northern Territory and a made number of other big contributions.
But runs at junior level don’t mean much if you don’t go on with it when given the opportunity to play higher levels, and while Davies still has a way to go before he is a household name, he is on track, having scored a big century in second XI cricket last summer.
The 20-year-old kicked off the current season with an unreal 130 off just 86 balls playing for Manly against Mosman, then 91 off 86 balls the following week in a two-day game against St George (with Trent Copeland and Moises Henriques in the opposition attack), and 116 off 56 balls against the same side in a T20 game in late November.
The run of form bought him a spot in the Sydney Thunder side, where he excelled throughout the season, taking to the big stage like a duck to water.
What is most impressive about Davies is his absolute fearlessness with bat in hand. He has excellent hand-eye co-ordination, and so much power when he goes after the ball. But not only that, he has every shot in the book and as a top or middle-order batsman can read the situation of the game.
Still, his ability to drive the scoring rate up – as he did so often for the Thunder and again for the Blues against Victoria on a slow, somewhat difficult pitch to get in on at North Sydney Oval – was and will continue to be mighty impressive for years to come.
It’s his style, and it won’t go anywhere as he attempts to force his way into the top level across all three formats of the game.
And while the return of so many Test players means there wasn’t a spot for Davies in both formats to conclude the summer, the fact he was included for his List A debut while the Blues were close to full strength is a testament to how highly regarded he is in the state system.
His half-century against Victoria – as he supported Steve Smith in an 89-run stand, the Blues recovering from the horrid position of 4-73 – was all the more important given the game situation and will have done his chances of playing out the summer in the coloured clothes no harm.
Steve Smith – not the worst guy to have at the other end. (Paul Kane/Getty Images)
But he mustn’t be rushed into the national team. Timing, from the selectors’ point of view, will be absolutely critical.
While calls for other youngsters to play for Australia – most notably in recent times Cameron Green – come thick and fast, Davies has so far escaped that sort of attention.
Green had some respectable performances in his first Test series and has done enough to keep his spot next time the team is picked, but a little more experience at Sheffield Shield level may have done him the world of good before he was thrown to the lions.
Even in the shorter forms of the game, where Davies has excelled, it’ll be the same story. Another Big Bash season and one-day cup campaign are musts before he is considered for Australian selection in white-ball cricket. Red-ball cricket is a little further off than even that, but with World Cups on the horizon and Australia potentially about to rebuild across all three formats, the opportunities will be there for Davies.
When he is eventually selected, the selectors must be patient and allow the youngster to find his feet at the top level, as the NSW selectors would need to be if the runs stopped flowing at any point in the next few games.
This end-of-season run is critical for a player like Davies, as he spends time learning from the best in the game, bonafide stars of the international arena, while also playing against plenty of them.
Other youngsters are in a similar position to Davies, but none with his level of skill, or build-up of runs at lower levels of the game, which suggest he is going to be a future star in the national colours.
It is, of course, a mammoth call to make at this stage, but all the signs are pointing to the exciting batsman having a fantastic international career.
Now, it’s all about timing and waiting until he is ready to don the national colours.
Until then, NSW fans are in for a treat.
Tempo
Roar Rookie
I'd be equally happy to give Maddinson a go, he's been great since moving to Victoria. For whatever reason he seems to be a bit further back in the selectors minds right now. I'd prefer Henriques to Finch because Henriques has been consistently performing for NSW, whereas Finch hardly plays red ball cricket (and has performed modestly when he does). To me age shouldn't be a factor unless you have two players performing similarly. So Maddinson is probably a fair call, but I don't think Henriques should be totally ruled out on account of his age. Nothing wrong with someone coming in and performing well for a couple of years (e.g., Colin Miller, Chris Rogers, Adam Voges). Not that Henriques is on the same level, but look what Fawad Alam is doing for Pakistan after coming back at age 35. (And if he's 35 in Pakistan years, imagine how old he really is!)
Paul
Roar Guru
at 34, I wonder a) how much time he has left in the game at the top level and b)why selectors wouldn't go for a guy like Maddinson, who's outperformed Henriques, or even Aaron Finch, both for his middle order batting and his leadership?
Rellum
Roar Guru
Henriques has at least earned his go at a Test spot. He has been very good for a few years now.
Tempo
Roar Rookie
He's not going to be our next 5 to 10 year player, but he could be a useful role player in the next few years until we unearth the next long term batting talent. Much like a Chris Rogers or Adam Voges was in recent years (or Tim Paine even!). You could do far worse than picking an experienced player who has become one of the most consistent batsmen in Shield cricket in recent years. He'd add some good leadership to the group too.
Tempo
Roar Rookie
Ollie Davies scores his first half century in domestic cricket and all of a sudden he is a future test player? He's an exciting young talent for sure, but you can't compare him to Cameron Green who is only a year older and yet has 5 FC centuries, a FC average of 50 and scored the third most runs for Australia in his debut series (not to mention two 5 wicket hauls in the Shield). Green got picked and had a lot of hype about him because he was the best performed batsman in domestic cricket along with Will Pucovski. How about we wait until Davies strings together a few good performances at domestic level (or even gets a FC debut?) before proclaiming he has a long international career ahead of him.
Paul
Roar Guru
agreed, but is he really the next best 3,4,5 or 6 Test batsman after the incumbents? If so, we're in huge trouble
matth
Roar Guru
Henriques is doing alright again today. He is more than the player he was 3 or 4 years ago.
Paul
Roar Guru
I don't disagree, but in them meanwhile, we have Harris, Henriques & Carey as our first choice Test batting reserves, so if anything happens to our top 6 incumbents, one of these guys would be chosen, given they were the only 3 additional batting options for the SA tour.
TJ
Guest
Definitely has a lot of talent but I'm not sure he's done all that much to be declared the next star. From memory he had one (maybe two) decent innings in the BBL so I'm not sure how you've come to the conclusion that he "lit up the BBL". Think this entire article is just a massive overreaction to a few good innings. Let him develop away from the spotlight before labeling him the next best thing.
Rellum
Roar Guru
That is no a dilemma, they have to earn their spot. Stuey Law didn't want Shane Watson to play for QLD way back in the day because he hadn't dominated club cricket at that point but Tassie, where he was training at the time picked him to play, really before he was ready. If he had been made to wait and learn to dominate each level before he moved up all that talent would have had a much better chance of being maximized.
Paul
Roar Guru
Australian cricket has a real dilemma to solve at present. We have plenty of guys who appear to have tons of talent, like Oliver Davies, but do we hold them back so they can develop at their own pace, or force the issue by throwing them into Shield sides, because we have nobody really bashing down doors to get into the Test batting top 6? I'd like to see guys like Davies play in England and if at all possible, in India in the coming months. On paper over the next year and a half, we have at least 4 tours to Asian countries and an Ashes tour in England soon after that. The more experience young players can get, the more they can press for test selection - if they're good enough
Ian_
Roar Rookie
I think you're overstating his impact in the BBL. He made 36,48 then a run of 5 scores between 0 and 4. He may well turn out to be a star, but that evidence is very thin.
Rellum
Roar Guru
NSW in big trouble, QLD getting on top now.
DP
Guest
He certainly didn't excel "throughout the season". In BBL he scored 36 and 48, and then 2, 0, 0, 0no and 4. That's not excelling. But yes, I've seen him at junior level and he looks the goods. Another year or two, who knows?
Rellum
Roar Guru
Maybe wait to see if he gets a game in the Shield and how he goes before too much excitement is shown.